To Boldly Teach
by FrauleinTofu
Summary: High school AU except instead of students, the crew are the teachers. Welcome to Enterprise High; the craziest effin' high school in the galaxy. K/S answer to prompt.
1. Prologue: Enterprise High

**A/N:** Filling prompt on st_xi_kink: "High School AU. But instead of them all being students, the crew are all the teachers. It is the craziest fucking high school you have ever seen. Kirk/Spock (bottom!Spock if sex [like a quickie in the classroom]) you can add pairings with the others if you want too."

Yes, it will be K/S eventually. "Eventually" being a key word. This is probably not going to be that short. To put it another way, it will probably be long.

* * *

Enterprise High, one of the most renowned and prestigious high schools was in a flurry of activity as it prepared for the new school year. Incoming students had their papers processed, classes were arranged, and teachers were hired and organized. Though everybody was busy, it was also a well known routine by the senior staff.

Sitting in the principal's office was an older gentleman typing away at a PADD. He was interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

"Enter."

The door opened and shut with a click. Principal Pike looked up from his work to greet his expected visitor.

"Prompt as usual, Mr. Spock." he said with a small grin.

Mister Spock stood stiffly in front of the office doors and regarded the principal with a slight nod of his head. Pike stood up and motioned to the chairs in front of his desk.

"Please have a seat."

He made no sound as he stepped over and sat just as straight and stiff as he stood. Just watching him made Pike's back ache, but he pushed away the thought by resuming his seat and pulling up Spock's file on his PADD.

"It's a pleasure and honor to have you as a teacher here, Mr. Spock. I trust your trip over went well?" asked Pike, even though he was certain of the answer he would receive.

"The trip occurred with no incidents and I have arrived at the pre-determined time."

Spock's voice was devoid of inflection and his expression was just as blank. Pike cracked a wry grin. He was definitely going to be an interesting teacher. While there were multiple teachers from different worlds, this was the first time a Vulcan deigned to teach at any educational establishment outside of the Vulcan schools and even more so, the Vulcan Academy of Science.

"Glad to hear it." Pike replied. Even though he knew Spock's file well, it was still a convenient distraction from trying to make small talk with him. "So, I'm going to assume you already have everything prepared for work and for your personal affairs?"

"Affirmative." he robotically replied.

"Good. Well, I know it would be pointless for me to lecture you and explain all the rules since you probably know them better than anybody here."

Though he knew it would not be reciprocated, Pike still shot Spock a small, amused grin. In turn, Spock merely blinked once and remained silent and motionless. Shaking his head in a resigned manner, Pike's grin softened into a smaller smile.

"That said, welcome to Enterprise High, Mr. Spock."

He stood up as he spoke and held out his hand. Spock responded similarly and shook the offered hand once before quickly placing it back at his side.

"Thank you, Principle Pike."

"School's not started yet, Spock. How many times have I told you that you don't have to be so formal in private?" Pike asked. When he saw Spock open his mouth, he quickly interrupted, "And I don't actually need a number count, you know."

Spock slightly inclined his head and agreed to the request.

"Of course, Christopher."

The small concession caused Pike to nod his head in approval. He watched as Spock prepared to leave, but was surprised when the door suddenly swung open. Were it not for his quick reflexes, Spock would have been clobbered by the door slamming into his face. Pike had to suppress a small groan when he saw who it was. He had hoped he would be able to wean Spock into interacting with the intruder, but it now appeared his plans just went to pot.

"Hey, Pike! I heard the new guy just got in." the stranger exclaimed excitedly.

Fairly certain this was not going to go well; Pike resigned himself to fate and was glad that he was at least present to keep things from getting out of hand. Gesturing towards the stranger, Pike calmly and professionally said,

"Mr. Spock, may I present to you, Mr. James T. Kirk."

* * *

**A/N:** A short prologue to get things rolling. More on the way. And the next chapters will be longer...much longer. I am proud I have done a chapter under 1000 words. Reviews and comments are appreciated and welcome. Please enjoy.

Peace and long life,  
~Tofu


	2. First Encounters

The one named James T. Kirk was a young man with an enthusiastic demeanor. It contrasted nicely with Spock's deadpan expression, or lack thereof. Kirk boldly stuck out a hand towards Spock who just looked at the hand and then back at Kirk. There was a brief moment of silence before Kirk slowly lowered his hand, but would not be deterred.

"Nice to meet you. I'm James Kirk."

Spock inclined his head slightly and replied,

"Obviously."

His voice was neutral and his face gave nothing away. This left Kirk wondering if the Vulcan was being sarcastic or something else. However, based off the way he acted like a statue, this left Kirk to assume he was merely pointing out the redundancy of introducing himself after Pike already did so. Still, his social skills left much to be desired.

"Right then. So that makes you, Mr. Spock?" Kirk was amused when his question caused the other man's eyebrow to arch upward.

"Indeed." He answered plainly. Like his answer previously, his voice remained frustratingly bland and gave nothing away. It seemed as if the human he was facing was incapable of doing so and the very example of why humans should learn to control their emotions. Clearly, it led to illogical behavior. But then, what Kirk said next logically caught him off guard.

"Dif-tor heh smusma!" He held his hand up in the Vulcan salute as he spoke. Kirk was grinning. It took long hours with the language and linguistics teacher to learn that one.

It took a moment for Spock to realize Kirk just attempted to greet him in the Vulcan manner. While the execution of the phrase left much to be desired, it was understandable enough and pleasantly surprising. The sheer happiness permeating through the phrase he could do without, but he assumed Kirk was incapable of being low key. Of course, he let none of his thoughts on the matter be made public. Instead, Spock returned the salute and the greeting in Standard.

"Peace and long life."

Though it was only logical and polite to answer the greeting, Kirk was absolutely thrilled he said it right and more importantly, appeared to have made a good impression. It was the first time he had ever met a Vulcan and like everything else he set out to do, he would not fail at it. And he decided to call it a success since Spock was less tense than he was before; still standing ramrod straight but in a more natural way.

"Thanks. I know I probably mutilated it, so sorry about that." Kirk did not know why he felt like he needed to apologize and he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. When he looked over at Spock, the Vulcan was regarding him coolly though his eyes betrayed a more gentle acknowledgment.

"There is no offense where none is taken."

Kirk felt it safe to assume this meant his apology was accepted and Spock did not hold his lack of language skills against him. That was a definite proverbial feather in his cap that he could not wait to show off to his doubting colleagues. For now though, he was satisfied with what he had accomplished since it was much better than before.

"Glad to hear it." Once more he grinned. "So, if Pike doesn't mind, how about I show you around a bit? It gets kind of hectic around here once the kids show up."

"I accept your offer." answered Spock.

The two young teachers finally acknowledged the principal who nodded his head with a small smile.

"Don't let me keep you."

Watching the little exchange between Kirk and Spock, Pike was amused, horrified, and pleased all in turn. There were still a wide divide between the two of them, but it did not look as impassible as before. He watched them exit the office, one practically bounding and simply waving goodbye cheekily and another stiffly bowing his head and exiting at a more sedate pace. Having been a principal for many years, Christopher Pike often found the pattern of running a school monotonous despite all the work that went into it. This year, and hopefully manner more to come, all of that would change. With the teachers he had lined up though, the chances were pretty damn high.

Meanwhile, walking through the hallway, Kirk was pointing out the various spots where students tended to congregate, the locations of various departments, and the fastest ways of getting around. While he talked and pointed to various areas, Spock walked along in silence and filed away all the information Kirk was giving him.

Even though he had already studied the layout of the school prior to his arrival, Spock determined that learning all the "inside scoop," as Kirk was calling it, would be beneficial in the long run. From what he gathered, the high school's layout was in a circular pattern with the dormitories behind it connected by a long, outdoor hallway. Overall, he found the establishment to be aesthetically pleasing and functional.

"So, hey, are you free later?" Kirk suddenly asked him.

Spock was unprepared for the abrupt change in topic, but managed to answer with his usual emotionless grace.

"I do not believe I have any prior engagements."

An unreadable expression akin to incredulity crossed Kirk's face as he listened to the Vulcan's response before he shrugged it off and grinned.

"Good to hear 'cause you see, it's custom for all the teachers to spend a dinner and evening getting to know each other." As he spoke, he locked eyes with Spock with hopeful enthusiasm. "Plus, it's a good way to get some tail."

The sly wink Kirk did was completely lost on Spock among other things. His eyebrow, which Kirk was fascinated by its agile movement, arched upward. It was the only thing that indicated he was confused.

"What is the purpose behind acquiring this 'tail' and to what tail are you referring?"

They both stopped walking and regarded each other curiously. Kirk scrutinized Spock who responded in kind. It was slowly dawning on Kirk that the new Vulcan teacher could not identify human metaphoric expressions. The prim and proper way Spock carried himself and spoke further clenched his realization. He was genuinely confused and Kirk found it amusing and dare he say it, somewhat adorable.

"Well, it's an old Earth saying referring to scoring," Kirk mentally kicked himself and quickly corrected his almost use of another metaphor. "Referring to meeting women…generally anyways."

The last part was spoken with a sly and cocksure smirk that he did not feel like explaining to Spock. For his part, Spock accepted the explanation and could hazard a guess as to what Kirk was most likely implying. Of course, Vulcans do not guess, so he just assumed.

"I see. While I have no intention to 'get some tail,'" he spoke with careful consideration of the human expression, "I find the concept behind this ritual congregating to be logical. Therefore, if you tell me the time and location, I shall be present."

"It's never a simple answer for you, is it?" asked Kirk amused.

Despite the joking manner, Spock immediately stiffened his eyes refused to meet Kirk's.

"I apologize. If my manner of speaking is an inconvenience to you, I shall endeavor to…simplify my speech."

Had it been anybody else, Kirk would have interrupted him or her and brushed the whole thing off with another joke. However, he was taken aback by the way Spock looked like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Though he would never say the Vulcan had a nervous habit, he did notice the way Spock was suddenly far more conscious of his glasses. He nudged the thick black frames further up the bridge of his nose. Kirk finally gathered his wits about him and smiled as reassuringly as possible.

"There is no offense where none is taken." Kirk was pleased that turning Spock's earlier words on him diffused the tension lining the Vulcan's shoulders and posture. "Seriously, I don't care, I was just making a, uh, ironic observation."

There was a reason he was not a language or literature teacher. With any luck, he picked the correct word. Much to his relief, it was. Spock nodded his head lightly a few times in understanding.

"I see. This 'ironic observation' is a means of joking."

Kirk nodded his head earnestly.

"Yeah, yeah, exactly!" he grinned, but he softened it a bit as he tried to keep things from being too awkward though still showing he was being sincere. "Just so you know, I make them a lot, so there's no reason to think you did something wrong…"

"I shall keep that in mind." stated Spock.

He remained calm and neutral so Kirk took that to mean everything was still flowing smoothly. Soon, they walked the entire school and Spock was at the entrance. No other miscommunication crises occurred, much to Kirk's relief. Vulcans were different from humans in more than just physical appearance and Kirk had a feeling that those differences would present new challenges. However, he lived for challenges and there was nothing he could not beat.

"Alright, I don't think there's anything else you really need to know." he rubbed his chin thoughtfully before snapping his fingers as he thought of something. "Oh right, we're meeting at 1900 hours in the bridge."

"The bridge?" Spock asked.

"Yeah, that's what we call the teachers' lounge. It's in the center on the top floor." Kirk explained.

"I shall be present."

With a final nod of goodbye, Spock turned around and began walking home. Kirk watched him gradually disappear down the street and when he was no longer visible, Kirk let out a loud sigh.

"Not quite what you were expecting, is he?"

Kirk practically jumped in surprise when Pike's voice came from over his shoulder. Principal Pike threw the young man a smug grin. Kirk did his best to cover up his reaction and cleared his throat.

"I knew he'd be different because, you know, being Vulcan and all that, but I wasn't expecting…_that_." Elegant his answer was not, but Pike seemed to understand it enough.

"Spock is definitely one of a kind…in more ways than one."

There was no indication as to what Pike could mean by that last part, but Kirk decided he did not want to know. It would ruin the challenge of unraveling the mystery behind Spock and finding out what it took to get a full out emotional response from him.

"You don't have to tell me that one. We're not kids on a playground here."

Pike snorted in disbelief when Kirk said that. This caused the younger man whip around and cross his arms defensively. His expression just dared Pike to comment. Having eventually becoming wise to Kirk's ways, Pike simply shook his head and rolled his eyes as he began to return to his office.

When Kirk was by himself again, he looked down at his watch. There was still some time before the teachers' gathering occurred, so he decided to follow Spock's lead and head back to his home. Pulling a set of keys from his pockets, Kirk strolled over to his motorbike parked a short distance away and slid onto the seat. He smirked at the way the vehicle roared to life and then purred. Not even bothering with a helmet, Kirk released the kick stand and peeled out of the parking lot.

On his way home, he contemplated on what he would wear. Just like the students, when school started, he would no longer be able to wear whatever he chose. The uniforms the school required the teachers to wear were not uncomfortable per se, but they were certainly nothing within the realm of fashionable. At least he did not have to wear the student uniforms.

Upon arriving at his nearby apartment, Kirk tossed his keys on the kitchen counter as he passed by and immediately began rooting around in his closet. It took some doing, but eventually, he was able to settle on an outfit that he knew most ladies loved to see him in. Glancing quickly at the chronometer sitting on a nightstand, Kirk cursed when he saw what time it was. He did not realize he had spent that much time fine tuning his outfit. While he cared how he looked, it never mattered to him that much before especially since he was already well acquainted with the female teachers. Whatever, it did not matter so long as he looked fine, or after seeing his image in the mirror, damn fine.

Satisfied with his appearance, Kirk exited his apartment and bounced down the stairs to the parking garage. Before he started up his motorcycle, he ran his hand through his tousled hair. A tiny smirk crept along his face. By the time he arrived, his short, blond hair would have the appropriate wind-blown look. With that thought in mind, he raced towards Enterprise High.

As Kirk arrived at the school's parking lot, he noted there were already a good number of vehicles already present. Looking up, he saw that most of the lights were turned off save for the soft glow emanating from the top floor. He could barely curb his excitement. This was the last night for him to let loose, drink what he wanted, and have a good time. In his attempt to hurry, Kirk almost ran into another body.

A small yelp escaped his mouth as he lost his balance and his previous momentum began carrying backwards. However, instead of falling down the stairs in a painful and embarrassing way like he anticipated, Kirk found himself being supported. Whoever he ran into was quick enough to grab the front of his leather jacket and held on preventing him from a nasty tumble. After regaining his senses again, Kirk finally looked over to see who caught him.

"Are you unharmed?"

The soft spoken question came from none other than Spock. He numbly nodded his head as it sunk in. Spock was damn fast and strong. Kirk was still leaning backwards, his feet resting on the edge of a step. The only thing keeping him from falling was Spock's iron fisted grip. It registered somewhere in his mind that it would be best to try to reassert his balance, but right now, Kirk was too distracted by the ease in which the Vulcan held him with one arm.

"Uh, yeah…I'm good…Sorry about that." Kirk sputtered out.

With that, Spock pulled and Kirk found himself upright once more.

"It is of no consequence…are you positive you are unharmed?" asked Spock tentatively. He noticed the way Kirk was staring at him with wide eyes and he had no idea as to why.

Nodding his head, Kirk straightened out his jacket and grinned as he collected himself from the surprise.

"Yeah, I'm totally good. Just surprised at you, that's all."

Spock tilted his head to the side a fraction as he regarded Kirk curiously.

"In what manner have I caused you surprise?"

"Your reflexes for one, plus you're freakin' strong." he answered enthusiastically.

"It should not be a surprise as Vulcans are stronger than humans." Spock explained flatly much in the same way he would deliver a lecture.

Kirk just slowly nodded his head in vague amusement.

"Sounds like a challenge. Ooh, I hear music. Let's go!" he spoke as he slapped Spock on the shoulder genially and then ran up the remaining stairs.

This left Spock to contemplate the lack of coherent thought patterns in Kirk and also to force himself to relax his muscles. The unexpected contact caused him to tense as a natural response. Before arriving on Earth from Vulcan, Spock made sure to learn common Earth customs and as such, he knew that humans were prone to physical contact. He thought himself prepared for it, but just now, proved he was not. Spock made a mental note to rectify such a deficiency as he would now be constantly in the presence of humans.

Following behind Kirk at a much more sedate pace, Spock focused on breathing deeply and calmly and most importantly, suppressing the current flurry of emotions, many of which he could not name. By the time he arrived at the top floor, Kirk was already in the teachers' lounge. Spock could hear him cheerfully and loudly declaring his presence. Right as Spock was approaching; Kirk leaned out of the doorway and grabbed Spock around his wrist. With a quick tug, Spock found himself stumbling forward into the room briefly before straightening up and extricating his wrist from Kirk's grip.

Standing with his hands on his hips, Kirk jerked his head towards Spock and beamed like a little kid showing off his new toy much to the Vulcan's growing dread.

"Hey everybody! This is Spock!!"

* * *

**A/N:** The first chapter. Written late at night so forgive any grammatical or spelling errors. And yes, Spock is wearing Quinto!glasses because it was suggested on the original prompt thread. Vulcans don't seem to need eyewear but it's AU so we'll just go with it. More on glasses later...Well, hope you enjoyed. Review, comment, ask any questions. I welcome all.

He's dead, Jim,  
~Tofu


	3. Party Physics

It took every ounce of self control to keep from spinning on his heel and marching right out the door. The buzz of talking stopped and an awkward silence hung in the air as all eyes turned on the newcomer. Spock was acutely aware that he was now the center of attention. His jaw clenched and his shoulders tensed as he forced himself to remain impassive.

"Good evening." Spcok managed to grind out.

People responded with their own greetings and began to turn back to their previous conversations, though they still shot furtive glances at him.

Meanwhile, Kirk remained oblivious to the Vulcan's discomfort, whether or not he was oblivious intentionally. He simply pulled Spock in further towards the center of the room where a small group of people were eagerly awaiting them.

"So this is the new chemistry teacher?" one of the people asked.

He spoke with a Scottish accent and was holding a glass of some sort of alcohol. Spock decided he seemed friendly enough.

"Yup, this is him." Kirk patted him on the shoulder and added, "And this, Spock, is-"

"Montgomery Scott. You can call me Scotty if ya like, lad. Most others do." Scott interrupted cheerily. He took a giant swig of his drink.

Spock tilted his head in acknowledgement and answered,

"It is an honor to meet you. I have read your papers. They are fascinating theories. However, should you have no preference; I shall refer to you as Mr. Scott."

Scott was in the middle of taking a sip but stopped when he listened to Spock. Spock, for his part remained carefully neutral though he did not know how the human would take his straight forward answer. After living on Earth and interacting with humans on a regular basis, he knew that his straight forward, and Vulcan way, of speaking could make them uncomfortable or be offended.

"Ha! That's fantastic! I've never met a man so straight to the point…well, maybe that guy." Scott jerked his head in Kirk's direction before cracking out in a huge grin. "So you've read my papers, have ye? Maybe we can have a little chat about my theories."

"I look forward to it."

Spock was relieved Scott was one of the few who were not put out by his manner of speaking. He was knocked out of his thoughts when a youthful voice butted in.

"Ooh, if it is not a problem, can I join that talk too?"

A young man walked over to their little group with an eager smile.

"Hey, kid, this is for teachers only." one of the men arched an eyebrow at him.

Spock studied the man out of the corner of his eye. He was a little bit older than the rest of them and he too carried a glass of some sort of alcohol. His voice indicated that he was perhaps from the southern part of this country. More than all of that, however, Spock noticed the way Kirk rested his arm on the man's shoulder. As such a gesture denoted familiarity, he assumed the two of them were friends.

"Da. I am a teacher. Well, I am actually a teacher's assistant, but I am going to be teaching a math class on my own." the young man corrected.

"Wait, how old are you and who are you anyways?" he asked incredulously.

The others focused their attention on the youngest teacher they had ever seen. Even Kirk seemed surprised at his youthful appearance.

"Sewenteen, going on eighteen. And I am Pavel Andreivich Chekov. A pleasure to meet you all." Chekov answered brightly and with a smile.

"So you're seriously going to be teaching math?" Kirk finally asked after remaining silent far too long.

Nodding his head energetically, Chekov beamed.

"I can vouch for Mr. Chekov's abilities. He has served as my teacher's assistant before and performed admirably." Spock interrupted. It was always difficult for most people to accept Chekov's abilities at first. However, Spock knew from first hand experience that they will soon think otherwise.

"Oh, well, if you say it, it must be true." the man grumbled sarcastically.

"Indeed. Vulcans do not lie." stated Spock.

Kirk had to bite his lip to keep from laughing at McCoy's expression. The disbelief on his face was plainly written for all to see. The others did not try as hard to suppress their amusement. Scott practically spewed his drink all over the place. What made it best was the absolutely blank expression and deadpan delivery on Spock's part.

"See Bones? It's got to be true." Kirk said as seriously as he could and then slapped him on the shoulder. "This is Doctor Leonard McCoy. He teaches anatomy and also helps the lovely school nurse, Christine Chapel."

A pretty young woman with blonde hair smiled sweetly and held out her hand towards Spock.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Spock. And don't mind the doctor here…he's a brilliant, cantankerous old man."

Spock and Chapel ignored the offended spluttering from McCoy as they shook hands. Shaking was another human gesture Spock did not care for but used nonetheless. Fortunately, Chapel had a gentler grip and only shook once before letting go.

"I am not an old man!" McCoy growled out with a huff.

"You don't deny the cantankerous part?" prodded Kirk.

Taking a huge gulp from his glass, McCoy smacked Kirk's arm off his shoulder.

"Hell no. I know I'm cantankerous. I deal with all of you on a regular basis."

This caused most of them to start laughing while McCoy pretended to be offended. Spock was left out of the loop between the apparent inside joke and his inability to properly understand the doctor. Seeing this confusion, one of the others broke off their laughter and scooted closer to him.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to him. His bark is worse than his bite. I'm Hikaru Sulu by the way." the man called Sulu spoke genially and held out his hand. "I teach biology and whatever other life sciences need teaching."

Shaking his hand, Spock was pleased to meet another person on the more tame side.

"You boys sure know now to make a racket. I can hear you from the other side of the room."

Spock's attention became riveted by the speaker. She was a young woman with dark skin and dark hair. Her eyes showed a certain kind of intelligence and her stance told him that she was confident.

"Okay, hearing us from across the room isn't that big of a deal when you can hear me breathing under a bed, you know." Kirk grinned suggestively at her.

She rolled her eyes in exasperation that was off set by the small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Shaking her head, she turned her attention to Spock.

"I hope these idiots haven't been causing you too much of a problem." She smiled sweetly at Spock who responded in the negative.

"They have caused me no difficulties and given that they are teachers at this school, they cannot be idiots."

He was not surprised when she started laughing softly when he spoke. Most humans did, but what she said next surprised him.

"You're right. They're not idiots. They know their stuff it's just that they can be…_duhsu_."

It was not often that Spock heard his language from a human and so well spoken at that. He immediately realized this was the language teacher Kirk referred to when he first greeted him in Vulcan.

"_Nyota Uhura wimish_." she continued to speak in Vulcan.

"_Spohkh wimish. Dif-tor heh smusma_." Spock responded in kind. There was something comforting about being able to hold a conversation with another person in his native language.

"Hey, how come you gave him your first name so easily?" Kirk whined pathetically. He feigned a pained fist to his heart. "That's cold."

Uhura shook her head and tweaked his ear causing him to let out a little yelp.

"Grow up, Kirk. It's my name and I can give it out to whomever I please."

Kirk ruefully rubbed his ear but could no longer suppress his grin. Spock cocked an eyebrow. There was clearly some sort of detail regarding Uhura's given name that he was not privy to and did not know if he wanted to. It was well enough she gave him a name and in Vulcan no less. As much as he did not want to admit it, and of course he would never admit it aloud, he was impressed by the teachers at this school.

"Wow Spock, you should be proud. First Christine and now Uhura." joked Kirk with a wink.

Spock had no idea what he was talking about. As far as he was concerned, he treated the females exactly how he treated the males. Then again, with Kirk, he was never sure what was going on.

"You know, they probably find the glasses sexy." supposed Kirk.

An eyebrow shot up to his hairline when he heard that.

"You are making a human jest?" Spock asked suspiciously.

Kirk was caught off guard by his question. He recalled that the Vulcan was unaccustomed to human joking, and probably any kind of joking. But what made him leery was the way Spock was regarding him with the most intensely guarded non-expression. Even though he had no idea what he should say, he knew it would be best to just speak truthfully.

"Yeah, I was making a joke, but you know, I wasn't actually making fun of you for wearing them or anything. They work for you."

Thankfully, Spock lightened up a little bit so Kirk took that to mean all was well. The only thing Kirk could not understand was the confused expression on Spock's face. Before he could ask, Spock beat him to it.

"My glasses are not animated thereby exerting no energy. They do what they do as they were intended. Glasses cannot work."

Kirk grinned along with all the others. However, he figured he would not be able to explain it very well.

"How about you take it, Miss Uhura? I'm sure you'd explain it better as our language expert. I apparently use too many metaphors or something."

Rolling her eyes again, Uhura smirked and then turned to Spock.

"He's just saying those glasses look good on you. And I think so too."

Nurse Chapel also nodded her head in agreement. The others just watched Spock with amusement and curiosity. He did not seem to know what to do with the sudden attention.

"Hey, kid, he always so stiff and formal like that?" McCoy asked Chekov.

"This is the most welaxed I have ever seen Mr. Spock. Actually, I am wery surprised he even came. He never does things like this." explained Chekov.

"Really? Never?" Kirk asked incredulously.

"Never. He is a wery reserved person. He said so himself. Right, Mr. Spock?"

"Indeed. The current situation I find myself is most uncharacteristic."

Kirk and the others were surprised at Spock's swift answer. They had been speaking in soft tones and did not think the Vulcan could hear them let alone follow their conversation. Apparently Chekov did not see fit to tell them Spock would be able to hear them.

"I have Vulcan hearing." Spock stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Meaning it's a lot better than all of yours so watch yourselves." Uhura added with a playful lilt to her voice.

"Great. Two people with super hearing." McCoy grumbled with mock despair.

They continued to banter back and forth while Spock allowed himself to listen in but not participate in. There were still too many unknowns for him to participate in these types of conversations in a suitable manner. But he was comfortable with it. Observing was far more appealing to him than participation. So caught up with studying each of the teachers and their conversations, Spock almost did not hear the question aimed towards him.

"So what hobbies does a fellow like you have, Mr. Spock?" Scotty asked with an overly eager glint in his eyes.

"I am interested in poetry, art, music, literature, and I spend most of my free time playing three-dimensional chess." he listed them off with ease.

He was immediately surprised when Kirk let out a loud whoop.

"Haha! Suckers! That means he's mine!!"

McCoy rolled his eyes dramatically along with Uhura. The others looked defeated. Humans were so illogical and now Spock wondered what he just got into by admitting his hobbies.

"I fail to see how or why you are staking claim on me. Please clarify."

Sulu took pity on the confused Vulcan.

"See, every teacher here is involved with some sort of club, usually dealing with their hobbies. A lot of times, there's more than one of us to a club depending on the amount of students." he shrugged and continued, "Jim heads the chess club. You play chess therefore he's deemed you part of the chess club."

"I see…" Spock replied.

Scott immediately chimed in.

"It's not set in stone. You can choose anything you want…like advanced engineering physics per chance?"

"Or you can join the fencing club. I'm sure you'd be great at it." Sulu quickly added.

"Languages would benefit greatly by having a native Vulcan speaker." interjected Uhura.

"Guess I'll whore myself out as well." McCoy, in his normal gruff manner, asked, "How about you be part of my xenobiology club? That green blood of yours will be interesting enough."

Spock was overwhelmed and fascinated at all of their attempts to make their respective clubs appeal to him. While many of them sounded interesting enough, Spock could not deny chess' appeal.

"Back off bitches, this one's mine." Kirk triumphantly growled out with a goofy grin.

He slung his arm over Spock's shoulders and pulled his body towards him. Spock immediately stiffened under the contact.

Once again, the doctor made a huge show of rolling his eyes while Uhura and the others shook their heads.

"Kirk, give them man a choice before you get all territorial."

Kirk was about to make a quip but then he realized how tense Spock's shoulders were. He immediately retracted his arm and shot Spock an apologetic glance. Nudging his glasses, Spock took a fraction of a moment to recollect his thoughts.

"While Mr. Kirk's declarations are crude and unruly, he is correct in his assumption."

Having now declared his intention to join the chess club, the others were slightly disappointed. They guessed that the chess club was going to be the most interesting club this year. Kirk and Spock had no doubts about it.

* * *

**A/N:** Third part of the story. I'm happy everybody has been enjoying it thus far. Hopefully it will remain enjoyable. Written late at night and could potentially have lots of mistakes. With any luck there won't really be many. whatever. As always reviews, comments, questions welcome. Happy reading.

Don't be out of your Vulcan mind,  
~Tofu


	4. Gertrude the Plant

The remaining few days left of summer break disappeared all too soon. Now it was the first day of classes and Enterprise High was packed with students and teachers scrambling to be on time for the first day. Teachers went over their lesson plans one last time while students greeted each other and attempted to find their classes. There were a few teachers standing in the hallway directing traffic and helping lost students.

"So you're going to go down this hallway, take the first left where you'll run into a really loud Scottish guy. That's the teacher for your first class. Good luck with that."

James Kirk patted the student on the shoulder as he pointed in the proper direction. With the layout of the classes, Kirk's history and social sciences were towards the entrance of the school giving him the best opportunity to greet and direct students. It worked out well considering most students instantly felt comfortable approaching him. Some of the other teachers were slightly more intimidating or the students just did not know what to think about them. Spock happened to be one of those.

What students did approach him only did so because there was nobody else around they could ask. Most of the students had never actually met a Vulcan in person before and the blank, solemn countenance of the newest teacher was not the most welcoming. However, he gave as good of directions as anybody else could even hope to. He could even tell them how long it would take for them to reach their classes down to the second. The students were stuck between whether or not that was awesome or creepy.

It did not take long for many of the students to locate their first classes, though some students started scrambling when the first bell began to ring. They had five minutes until the second bell rung. When there was a minute left, Spock stepped into his classroom. Majority of the seats were filled and the few remaining quickly filled before the second bell rung.

"Welcome to advanced placement chemistry. I am your teacher, Mr. Spock. I expect you to be here everyday and on time. I will now take attendance."

All the students sat a little straighter and tried to calm their nerves. The flat tone and serious face gave them the impression that he would be one of the most difficult teachers they ever had. They could only hope he would not be one of those impossible teachers who seemed to make it their life's goal to see their students fail.

However, by the end of the period, the students realized their new teacher was fair and understood their abilities and limitations, though they still knew he would be the most difficult teacher.

The bell rang when class ended and Spock dismissed the students who quietly gathered their belongings and talked only in whispers. Most nodded politely as they left while a few had the courage to verbally say goodbye. Even rarer were those who stayed behind to ask him questions about the course or their textbook. Spock politely returned their farewells and succinctly answered any questions. Eventually, the bell rang a second time and a new wave of students came in. Spock set his teaching notes for the previous desk in his desk and set out a different one for general chemistry.

Scanning through the room, he noticed the students were just as stiff and quiet as the last ones. Nodding his head more to himself than anyone else, Spock began the next lesson.

And so, the day continued to pass in the same manner as the mass of students were cycled through. Around noon, the lunch bell rang and Spock dismissed the students. Once the room cleared out, Spock took a deep breath. So far, the day had gone smoothly and predictably. That changed the minute the door to his classroom swung open.

"Spo~ck!" a sing-song voice echoed throughout the room.

Even with his back to the door, Spock knew exactly who that voice belonged to.

"Mr. Kirk. May I help you with something?" he asked calmly and much more softly.

"Yes, Mr. Spock, you can. You will join me and the others for lunch!"

For a fellow teacher, and one that taught social studies at that, Kirk was wonderfully adept at throwing orders around. It had never been in his nature to be a follower. Many of his old school teachers would testify to that. He was confident in who was and in his intentions. Spock had to admit that Kirk was a charismatic human.

"Another custom, I assume?"

Kirk nodded his head vigorously.

"Yeah, and besides, bonding occurs over food. It's a known fact proven throughout history. I should know. I'm a history and social science teacher."

Spock's eyebrow arched upward and Kirk was left wondering how he managed to do that so well.

"Yes, Mr. Kirk, I am aware of the subject you are most proficient at." he acknowledged. "Very well, I shall join you and the others for lunch."

"Great. We can also talk about the chess club and what we're going to do to revitalize it." Kirk told him.

After making sure his lesson plans were stored neatly in his desk, Spock followed Kirk out the door.

"It is failing then?" Spock asked with a small hint of surprise. He had figured the club would be popular since Kirk was the one in charge. From the short time he had been at the school, Spock could see that James Kirk was popular with the students, especially with the female variety.

"Sort of. Three dimensional chess isn't for the faint of heart and the few die hard chess fans are few and far between." admitted Kirk.

"That is most unfortunate. However, I must inquire how you believe I will be able to aid you in this endeavor."

Spock was suspicious as to why Kirk suddenly grinned in a slightly devious manner.

"Would you say chess, in theory is simple?"

The Vulcan was caught off guard by the abrupt shift in conversation, though he decided he would humor his fellow teacher, if only to understand where this all was going.

"Indeed. There are a limited number of moves each piece may make and the goal is straight forward; to capture the king. The complexities of chess results from the different means one may use achieve the goal."

Kirk's grin grew even larger. He clapped Spock on the back.

"That, my Vulcan friend, is how we're going to revitalize the chess club."

"…We are going to pander to the students by promoting chess as a simple game?" Spock asked with a raised eyebrow.

It was impossible not to notice Kirk's cringing.

"Well sheesh, when you put it like that…But yeah, more or less." he finally admitted.

Spock seemed to consider a few moments before slowly nodding his head.

"Interesting. It has its merits…Very well. I shall go along with your plan."

Kirk abruptly stopped walking and gaped at the Vulcan. Spock stopped a few steps ahead and looked over his shoulder questioningly.

"Is something the matter, Mr. Kirk?"

It was not something Kirk had been expecting to hear. After getting over his initial surprise, he smiled broadly.

"No, nothing's the matter. This is great. We can go over the details during lunch."

"It is as you stated earlier. However, if we do not keep walking, we will only have twenty-eight minutes and fifteen seconds…fourteen seconds." Spock counted down dispassionately.

"Okay, okay, we're going."

Kirk held his hands up defensively and began walking again. After a short walk, they reached a set of double doors. When the doors were pushed open, Kirk and Spock were greeted by the deafening noise of over a thousand students eating lunch. Spock gritted his teeth against the noise and the peering eyes. He was relieved when he was lead to another door leading into a smaller room. Through the large glass window, he could see many of the other teachers already enjoying their meals.

"Come on, let's get some food."

He motioned towards the food line. There were still some students passing through the line choosing what kind of food they wanted. Spock followed behind Kirk bypassing most of the food. When they finished paying, Kirk led Spock to the teacher's lounge. The others were already seated. Chekov waved at them eagerly.

"Hey, kid! How was teaching your first class?" Kirk asked happily.

Chekov nodded his head.

"It went wery well. The students were not cooperative at first, but after I showed them a few examples, they were much more agreeable."

"Glad to hear it. So, are you planning on being a part of a club?"

"Yes. I have decided to help Mr. Scott and his club." he stated as he pointed to Scotty who was currently devouring a sandwich.

Swallowing a huge bite and wiping his mouth on a napkin, Scotty gave Chekov a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"Aye. Turns out he knows quite a bit about physics."

"Damn. You really must be something to get praise from Scotty." Kirk grinned.

This caused Chekov to beam. Spock gave a slight nod of approval.

"Indeed. You continue to perform admirably." Spock said politely but with a definite hint of praise.

Though a simple statement, Chekov looked like he was about to die from embarrassment and pleasure. Kirk figured it must also take quite a bit to get praise out of Spock as well. That settled it; Kirk's goal was to get Spock to praise him for something.

"Is something the matter, Mr. Kirk?"

Kirk whipped his head around to face Spock. He was proud at hiding his embarrassment at being caught off guard.

"No, nothing at all. Just thinking about…chess."

"Good save, Jim. I'm sure you fooled him." McCoy snorted sarcastically.

"It is obvious Mr. Kirk does not wish to divulge his thoughts. It is not my place to pry."

Spock ate his salad, studiously ignoring Kirk. He had noticed the distant look in his eyes previously, and while he was curious as to what he was thinking, Kirk's attempt at lying indicated he did not want anybody to know. Then again, it could have been something about chess, since they had been talking about it in the hallway, but he could not figure out what would be so secretive about chess.

"Hey, where's Sulu?" Kirk suddenly asked.

"Where else? The botany labs. He said he had been neglecting Gertrude." Scotty explained around a mouthful of sandwich.

"Who is Gertrude? She is Mr. Sulu's girlfriend?" asked Chekov with a curious amount of interest.

McCoy shook his head.

"She is Mr. Sulu's plant."

"…He is loving of a plant?" Chekov asked incredulously.

"Yeah, he is much loving of a plant…he really needs to go out, with another person preferably." Kirk commented happily before taking a bite out of his food.

"Jim, have you ever considered eating a salad?" McCoy suddenly shifted the conversation and pointed at the cheeseburger Kirk was eating. "Do you even know what _that's _doing to your arteries?! Not to mention the cholesterol, fats, and calories."

It was the same conversation the two friends had on a regular basis. Spock cocked an eyebrow at their raucous bantering. Uhura leaned forward and explained their unique friendship.

"Ignore them. They have this conversation on a regular basis. Nobody wins."

"I don't' believe in no-win situations." Kirk boldly proclaimed.

Everybody at the table rolled their eyes. Uhura reached over and snatched a French fry off his plate.

"It's a burger; not a life or death situation." She munched on her pilfered fry much to Kirk's annoyance.

"Go get your own." he growled as he drew the plate closer.

"I'm helping you and your cholesterol." Uhura responded sweetly.

Scotty almost choked on his sandwich when Uhura revealed a second French fry. Kirk feigned indignation. She winked at Spock who just stared at her blankly. He was supposed to do something, but he did not know what. His completely lack of response caused Kirk to burst out laughing. Chekov smiled alongside the others and told her,

"You have to be wery, wery obvious when making a joke with Mr. Spock."

"Clearly." Uhura answered in a somewhat amused tone.

"I apologize. The complexities of human jokes continue to escape me." Spock answered stiffly.

"You don't have to apologize. It's all good." reassured Uhura.

"Alright, now that we cleared that up, we have to discuss our very important chess matters." Kirk veered the conversation suddenly.

"I do not see what else needs to be discussed. You have presented your course of action and it is logical." Spock replied.

There was a collective set of chuckles as the others tried to muffle their amusement. Kirk sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Spock wondered if he missed something again. However, he had no reason to worry when Kirk just grinned and shook his head.

"You certainly know how to keep me on track, Mr. Spock."

"About time too." McCoy added with a cheeky waggle of his brow.

Kirk slapped him playfully on the shoulder and resumed consuming his food. The bell suddenly rang and then he had to quickly stuff the remainder in his mouth. McCoy and Uhura gave him a look of disgust, Chekov looked surprised, while Scotty gave him a thumbs up and scarfed down his own sandwich. Spock's eyebrow arched slightly as he also cleared his tray.

"Mr. Kirk, before we part, may I ask where the chess club is held?" asked Spock.

"Oh yeah, it's in the recreation lounge on the second floor." Kirk yelled over his shoulder. "See ya later!"

Spock watched him shoo the students out and herd them towards the classrooms with mild curiosity. Jim Kirk showed a vested interest in the students and their wellbeing. There was something about him that put the students at ease and still motivated them. It was a fascinating trend Spock was beginning to recognize. Nobody was at ease around him and he was fairly certain he motivated others out of fear and intimidation. Not that he cared that much so long as the end result was satisfactorily accomplished. However, there might be some merit to Kirk's method. He would look into it further. For now, Spock was pleased with the results he was able to produce.

"You have three minutes and forty-three seconds before class begins." Spock calmly declared to the remaining students lagging behind.

They immediately grabbed their belongings and scurried out as fast as they could. The cafeteria was empty in five seconds.

* * *

**A/N: **Next up, chess club. This was a bit harder to write and I kind of forgot about Sulu. I'm horrible. So I threw in a reference to TOS and his unusual love of foliage. For all the chess references and whatnot, I don't have a clue what's going on. I get the gist of it, but actually ask me to play and I wind up playing with the horsey pieces. (I've been informed multiple times they are not 'horsey pieces,' but knights. I refuse to call them that.) Anyways, I hope everybody enjoyed it. Some Kirk and Spock bonding ahead.

I have to research chess and hide the horsey pieces from others,  
~Tofu


	5. Chess Club

"Read chapters two through three and be prepared for a quiz. Dismissed."

The very second Spock finished speaking; the final bell of the day rang. Students stuffed their book bags with their belongings and excitedly shoved their way out of the lecture room. A few students remained behind to speak with Spock about homework assignments and schedule rearrangements. After making sure no other students needed anything, Spock checked the chronometer. School clubs began fifteen minutes after school ended.

Gathering his belongings, Spock tucked them under his arm and locked the classroom door behind him. Students milled about by the lockers and courtyard, some waving at Spock as he passed by and others trying their hardest to not make eye contact. Spock adjusted his glasses and determined the fastest route to the recreation rooms.

As he was passing through one of the hallways, the echoes of a fight reached his sensitive hearing. Completely disregarding the time he had been keeping track of, Spock sought out of the source of the noise. When he turned a corner, he saw a group of older students shoving a younger boy around. Suppressing a frown and a sigh, Spock marched over to the students with steely resolve.

"Cease your actions at once." Spock commanded.

All the students froze. They slowly turned their attention to Spock. The young boy visibly relaxed and tried to stealthily maneuver away from the bullies and closer to Spock. The students did not notice the movement. Their attention was on the teacher who stopped them. It took a couple of seconds passed before they regained a hold of their senses. With an open sneer, one of the students brazenly stepped forward and straightened his back. Spock calmly reasoned he was the leader of the group. He was unimpressed.

"You attempts at posturing are logical, but ineffective. Please step away." Spock asked, but came out more like a demand.

"What? Are you gonna make me?" he asked threateningly.

Spock merely arched an eyebrow.

"That would be unnecessary as you have already stepped away of your own volition."

True to his word, the unruly student had backed off a couple of steps. The young man watched this from a safe vantage point, behind Spock, and watched in awe as the bullies seemed intimidated by a single teacher.

"Now, what was the altercation about?"

Despite the question, Spock had a feeling he knew what was happening. Regardless though, he still stared expectantly at each student. Nobody was overly eager to start.

"What is your name?" he suddenly asked the boy hiding behind him.

"My name is Tylers, sir…Steven Tylers." he said as he shifted his weight uncomfortably.

"What happened?" Spock asked with an admirable amount of patience.

Tylers stuttered and looked around nervously.

"W-well, I, uh…nothing. It's nothing." he replied unconvincingly.

He stared at the ground, refusing to make eye contact with Spock who was studying him with a scrutinizing eye. Realizing he may feel uncomfortable with his persecutors nearby, Spock did not push it at the moment. Instead, he directed his attention back to bullies.

"What are your names?"

Once again, the leader of the gang stepped forward and spoke for all of them.

"What's it to ya, Freak?" he growled out.

And once again, Spock was unimpressed and unfazed.

"I want to know your names so I may write a reprimand and ensure you attend detention." Spock explained.

"That's bullshit!" he retorted. His friends grinned and nudged each other, confident in their leader's ability.

"It is not bovine excrement. It is a detention referral."

Spock's reply caused the group of hooligans to cease laughing and pause. They stared blankly at Spock who stared just as blankly back.

"Are you for real?" he asked incredulously.

"Obviously. I am here, physically speaking to you. That would imply I am real." answered Spock. "However, we are not here to discuss the nature of reality. What are your names?"

It took a few seconds for everybody to realize what Spock was saying. Tylers thought he was the weirdest teacher he had ever met. The others had to agree, but decided they had enough and let him know it.

"Forget it. You're not getting any names." the leader crossed his arms and stuck out his chest. "So what are ya going to do about it?"

Spock canted his head slightly and regarded the difficult student. His posture indicated a challenging stance and Spock idly wondered what the student would gain by engaging in a fight with him. However, at the moment, there were more pressing concerns. The bully and his gang made to move away, but Spock would have none of that. Quicker than most realized. Spock's hand latched onto the scruff of the leader's uniform.

"You are not dismissed." Spock ordered.

There was a collective gasp when the leader was tugged back. Even though it would have been impossible for Spock to single-handedly catch and detain them all, the other students remained rooted to the spot. They knew very few people, teachers included, bothered to stand up to this particular student. They had to see how it ended.

The leader attempted to pry his uniform from Spock's grasp, but failed miserably. It was only when he ceased struggling that Spock released his hold.

"If you would just cooperate, this situation would not have to continue." Spock explained calmly.

"You really don't know how it works around here, do ya?" the leader straightened his uniform and leaned forward menacingly. "Well, off-worlder, I'll have to teach ya."

"What's going on here?" a deep voice loudly interrupted.

All heads turned to face the speaker. A large man with a bald head and gruff face stood imposingly with his arms crossed. Spock recognized him from the other nights faculty party and also recognized the small insignia indicating he was with security.

"These students," Spock motioned towards the bullies, "Refuse to cooperate. I found them fighting with this student here."

Tylers started a little when Spock said his name. The security officer nodded his head in understanding. It was not the first time he had dealt with these particular students.

"I see. Thanks for stopping it, Mister…?" he looked at Spock questioningly.

"Spock."

"Mister Spock. Don't worry, I'll take care of things."

The security officer made a quick whistling noise and in response, two more security officers came running. Realizing they were outnumbered, the leader and his cohorts finally gave in.

"Alright, move it." he commanded before pointing at Tylers. "You come too."

Tylers seemed reluctant to move, but he still followed behind, a few paces away from the bullies. He glanced over his shoulder once before resigning himself to his fate. Spock watched them leave and then glanced at the wall. The chronometer showed he was already ten minutes late. Keeping an exasperated sigh to himself, Spock quickly made his way to the recreation room.

When he arrived at the designated room, Spock quietly let himself in. There were a group of students and teachers crowded in the space, but a small handful of students and Kirk stood out in the back corner. Kirk happened to look up from the board he was organizing and smiled when he saw Spock. He waved the Vulcan over eagerly.

As Spock approached, all three students turned to face him. He now understood why Kirk was concerned about the chess club's roster.

"I apologize for the delay."

"No worries. I was just going over the rules and moves each piece can make. Get held up?" Kirk asked jovially.

Spock regarded him with a vaguely perplexed look. Kirk bit his bottom lip to keep from grinning and corrected his question.

"What caused the delay?"

"There was a minor altercation." answered Spock. He set his belongings on a nearby chair and gave a cursory glance at each of the chess boards.

Kirk leaned casually against the edge of the table with a mildly concerned expression.

"Everybody okay?" he asked.

"Affirmative. No physical damage occurred. The students involved are in the custody of security." Spock explained. "Though, the instigators of the fight were unusually aggressive."

Each of the students shared a knowing look along with Kirk. Spock arched an eyebrow.

"Did they happen to be seniors, about my height, kind of repetitive, and mean?" asked Kirk, even though his tone of voice suggested he already knew the answer.

"I assume these particular students are prone to..." Spock searched for the word a fraction of a moment. "They pick up a fight?"

"It's 'pick a fight,' and yeah, they do it often." Kirk replied.

One of the students swiveled in her chair and frowned, openly showing her derision for the students in question.

"And they never get in trouble for it either. Their parents are too important."

It was impossible to miss the bitterness in her voice. The others nodded their head in total agreement. Apparently, each one of them had had some sort of encounter with the students. Kirk shook his head and then clapped his hands loudly to get everybody's attention.

"Alright, enough about them. Spock, let me introduce you to our posse. The stunning young lady is Marlena Moreau, sitting next to her is Karl Jaeger, and the barrel of sunshine over there is John Watkins." Kirk pushed off from the table and began circling the small group. "Let's cut to the chase. The school requires we have at least ten people to keep a club."

There was a collective expression of despair on all three faces. Spock remained neutral, but he did understand why they felt that way. It was clear they loved to play chess, but they also knew they were few and far between.

"So we're screwed. How are we supposed to get seven other people to join chess?!"

Karl Jaeger, slouching in his chair, threw his hands in the air in exasperation. Kirk tried his best to console them.

"Hey, where there's a will, there's a way, right?" Kirk tried to get the others to agree, but the students remained skeptical. "Besides, we now have Mister Spock."

"Great. That helps us how?" John Watkins, non-descript in appearance, but a prominent frown in place sarcastically asked.

"Mister Kirk is under the impression I am going to pander to the students using my unique appearance and promote the underlying simplicity of chess." Spock answered blandly.

All three students slowly swiveled in their chairs and stared at Kirk with disbelief. Combined with Spock's cocked eyebrow, the effect of "what the hell?" was perfectly created. Kirk held his hands up in defense.

"I didn't say that!...Well, not like that. But it's a good plan, right?"

The three students still looked unconvinced. Watkins jerked his thumb towards Spock.

"Yeah, 'cause that guy's just a bucket of rainbows and sunshine. I can really see the appeal behind that friendly countenance."

"I assume you are being sarcastic." Spock noted.

The student just stared blankly at Kirk who rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, you made your point, Watkins. Mister Spock, would you like to present any suggestions?"

There was a pleading look in his eyes. Spock squashed the urge to roll his eyes and clasped his hands behind his back.

"You have given me the impression that the chess club is lacking due to a lack of interest." Spock glanced at Kirk who nodded his head in agreement. "Then it would be logical to promote chess as interesting."

Watkins, ever the optimist, rolled his eyes and gestured at a chess board.

"Good thinking. Only problem with that profound piece of logic is that we play chess. By nature alone, people don't find that interesting."

"You are an extremely negative individual. However, you have a valid point." Spock conceded. "That is why, if you permit me, I shall continue with my previous point."

He arched an eyebrow at Watkins who had the decency to look slightly embarrassed.

"Please, go right ahead." he said.

Spock shared a quick glance with Kirk, who was leaning against the wall obviously amused, before continuing.

"I propose we advertise the chess club during lunch break with an interesting exhibition."

Kirk slowly nodded his head. He pushed off the wall and leaned forward so he could rest his elbows on a table.

"So what did you have in mind? I'm pretty sure all my ideas are either forbidden by the school or are illegal…at least I think so. I'd have to brush up on my law." Kirk supposed with a thoughtful grin.

Even though he was hardly serious, the subtle expression of horror on Spock's face almost made Kirk wish he had been serious; if only to see what Spock would have done. But right now, it was about the students and the chess club's peril, so he alleviated Spock's concern.

"I was joking…I know the law really well." Kirk said with a grin. "But anyways, back to you."

Narrowing his eyes marginally, Spock carefully made eye contact with each of the members to see if anybody else wanted to interrupt him. When nobody made a move to say or do anything, he took that to mean he could continue.

"I want to set up however many chess boards that are available outside and invite any student to play a game." Spock stated.

Each of the students shook their heads.

"Already tried that. We just ended up playing against each other the whole time." Marlena said despondently.

"I am not suggesting you challenge the student body."

Everybody stared blankly at Spock. The students were floored by the statement while Kirk was doubly intrigued by what the Vulcan was thinking under his mask of neutrality. Subconsciously, each member of the chess club leaned forward expectantly. Jaeger finally asked,

"So what are we going to do?"

Spock mentally chewed on his reply a moment before answering. From the short period of time he had observed the students in the club, he knew he would need to move carefully from here on out if his plan was to work. The self-esteem level was drastically low in this group, and he did not want to add to it. He figured it would be simple enough to simply state what he wanted to do, but from what he knew about humans, his frank way of speaking tended to make them uncomfortable, or more likely, misinterpret what he meant. That was the last thing he wanted to do. So, he quickly formulated a method of attack. It was just like chess; know what the opponent was thinking.

"It is true that the students attending this school are highly motivated individuals?" Spock suddenly asked.

"We wouldn't be here if we weren't." Watkins sarcastically replied.

Choosing to ignore him, Spock simply continued, assuming the comment indicated they were all following the same train of thought.

"Therefore, it is not unreasonable to assume challenging their abilities would motivate them?"

The students nodded their heads eagerly. They were hooked.

A tiny grin slowly crept along Kirk's face as he figured out what Spock was doing. He briefly glanced at the three students out of the corner of his eye. They were twitching in their seats and watching Spock with rapt attention. It seemed Spock was making a good impression on them. This made Kirk glad. He knew it was the right decision to invite him to join the chess club.

"So we're not just going to invite them to play for fun, we're going to turn it into an actual challenge?" Kirk rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Sounds fun. What are we challenging them with? Like the kids said, students aren't just looking to spend their time playing chess during lunch."

"I agree. I intend to challenge them to beat me. I will play against whomever, whenever, at the same time." Spock promptly responded.

"…You can do that?" Jaeger asked skeptically.

"Affirmative. And, as Mister Kirk has exceptional interpersonal skills, he will…promote it, as it were."

Kirk gave a full blown grin.

"You got it, Mister Spock. I'm looking forward to seeing this. How about you guys?"

"Hell yes. I gotta see this in person." Watkins actually had a grudging smile on his face. "So you seriously plan on playing against the three of us, at the same time?"

"I am indeed serious. I also plan to simultaneously play any others who should so choose to challenge me to a game." responded Spock. He arched an eyebrow. "Of course, I do not wish to force you into anything."

"Oh, don't even try that." Watkins pointed accusingly with a smirk. "You just bit off more than you can chew, Mister Spock."

"I assume that is a human idiom as I am not currently consuming any food at this time." Spock answered plainly.

The three students started laughing. Spock just watched them with a vaguely curious stare. Biting back his own laughter, Kirk walked around the table and patted Spock briefly on the shoulder.

"Yeah, it's an idiom, bud. And I believe you are one clever Vulcan." Kirk stepped back a few paces from Spock and looked over his students. "Alright, we'll call it a day. You guys better start practicing. Somebody has to show up Mister Spock."

Moreau, Jaeger, and Watkins said their goodbyes and talked animatedly as they left the recreation room. Kirk crossed his arms and could not resist a content sigh. For the first time in a long while, Kirk got to watch the students in his club go home with renewed enthusiasm for something they loved, and excited motivation to challenge themselves to do better.

* * *

**A/N:** Isn't that just touching? Kirk cares about his students. And apparently Spock can sympathize with bullied students...Anyways, student names are ripped from actual Enterprise crewmen/women. Thank you Memory Alpha. So, let me know what you wonderful readers think. Happy readings.

Make it so, Number One,  
~Tofu


	6. Bribery Works

"Hey, Spock. I managed to scrape up seven boards for today."

Kirk ran over to greet Spock as he opened the door to his classroom.

"That is adequate. Thank you, Mister Kirk." Spock replied.

"No problem." Kirk said as he followed Spock into his classroom. "You really going to play everybody at the same time?"

He leaned casually against Spock's desk as the Vulcan primly organized the day's materials on his desk.

"Affirmative. I understand the chess club is viewed as 'uncool' by most students. Therefore, it is logical to make chess appear 'cool,' which will have the highest success by turning the game into a public spectacle."

Never once looking up fro what he was doing, Spock continued to calmly explain the foundation for his idea. Through the whole thing, Kirk listened and watched in interested amusement.

"Wow, you really thought this thing out, huh?" he said with a grin.

Spock paused what he was doing to look over at Kirk. The motion caused his glasses to slip down his nose a bit.

"Indeed. However, I apologize. I have probably given too much information." he said while adjusting his glasses in an almost absent-mindedly.

Kirk shrugged and answered as eh continued to study Spock.

"No need to apologize. I was just making an observation."

He smiled reassuringly. It really did not bother him, and if anything, he was impressed with the dedication. For Kirk, it told him Spock was genuine in his concern over the failing chess club. That was more than most people could be.

Spock was stoic and nigh unreadable, but he had an admirable dedication for everything he did. Kirk recognized this trait for what it was and wanted to know even more about the new teacher. Spock was the puzzle he had to put together. Of course, he only had a few pieces to work with, but he had no doubt ore would come his way. It was simply a matter of listening carefully and reading between the lines. He had no doubt Spock was consciously unaware of how he spoke and that Kirk was damn good at inference. He was a social scientist after all.

"Hey, mind if I ask you something?" Kirk suddenly asked.

"Of course not. What do you wish to know?" Spock replied calmly.

Pausing only a second to make sure he asked correctly, Kirk leaned forward so he was face to face with Spock, his tone solemn.

"Why are you always so uptight?"

The solemn tone he used was offset by the mischievous gleam in his eyes. Kirk failed to suppress his grin when Spock's eyebrow arched upward a fraction.

"I am not uptight. I am simply more serious and formal than humans as Vulcans tend to be." Spock answered with the vaguest hints of amusement."

Kirk cheered internally. Spock had not been offended by his question. That was always a good sign. He might actually learn something new.

"I understand humans find Vulcan stoicism…odd?"

Kirk thought about it a moment before answering.

"It's more the fact you guys are like that all the time. But I guess for you, it works…since you're a chemistry teacher after all." Kirk added with a grin. "So I'm going to assume by your question that you're fairly knowledgeable about human tendencies."

"Affirmative. I was raised around the presence of your species on Vulcan so the generalities of humans were easy enough to determine. However, I find human idioms most illogical."

Spock finally went back to organizing his materials, working around Kirk.

The grin on Kirk's face grew larger as he listened to Spock comment in an almost absent-minded manner. Spock, for his part, ignored Kirk's amused expression and reviewed their conversation to determine how they got on this particular topic.

"You know…I don't actually know how we even got those sayings." admitted Kirk.

Their conversation was light and simple, Spock doing more listening than speaking, but Kirk was still able to feel out what he could and could not say. They were small and barely noticeable, but he was able to identify gestures Spock would use every so often as he spoke or organized papers. However, he had yet to determine what they meant in relationship to what the Vulcan was saying or hearing.

As Spock was finally satisfied with the layout of the items on his desk, Kirk noticed something.

"May I?" Kirk asked while pointing to Spock's face.

Spock just stared blankly at him. He had no idea what Kirk was indicating, but he felt fairly confident he would be safe if he acquiesced to his request.

"You may, though I do not know what you are referring to."

Not answering, Kirk pushed away from the desk and stood so he was facing Spock. He carefully extended his hands forward to the either side of Spock's face. Being careful, Kirk gently pulled off Spock's glasses. A single slanted eyebrow arched upward.

"I do require glasses to see correctly." Spock stated calmly.

Kirk took a few steps back and studied the Vulcan a moment before breaking out into a wide grin.

"You got contacts?"

Slowly and cautiously nodding his head, Spock calmly answered,

"I do possess them, but I do not use them often."

"Do you have them with you?" Kirk pressed.

Growing wary of where this sudden turn in conversation was going, Spock was about to adjust his glasses, but stopping himself when he remembered Kirk was still holding them.

"If by chance I should lose my glasses, then yes, I do carry them with me."

His answer caused Kirk to grin and nod his head approvingly. Much to Spock's relief, Kirk handed him back the glasses. He put them on, immediately feeling more comfortable with the familiar weight.

"Wear your contact during lunch." commanded Kirk with finality.

He did not allow Spock to question him due to his quick retreat.

"Alright, gotta go to class. See you at lunch!"

With unexpected speed, Kirk was already out of the classroom, door shutting behind him. Spock studied the now closed door with a curious stare. It would have been a more compelling command, had he actually stated his reasoning, but Spock was beginning to learn that Kirk did not follow the traditions of orthodox logic and reason.

His musings were cut short when the door opened again and a trail of half-asleep students filed in. Most plopped into their desks, though a motivated few paused at Spock's desk to ask some last minute questions about their homework. And just like that, all thoughts of Kirk and his rambling were banished from the forefront of his mind. Of course, he did not bother to consider the nagging pull at the back of his mind as it continued to replay Kirk taking his glasses off. He was Vulcan, and he refused to be bothered by such illogical thoughts.

And it was with this single-minded devotion to ignore everything but the matter at hand that Spock finished his lecture four point six minutes early. While it was not against regulations for students to arrive at lunch early, a staggered release was commonly employed. However, Spock could easily read the excited desperation on his students faces as they just itched to leave and go to lunch. He found the class prior to lunch was always skittish.

"If you will be quiet in the hallway, you are dismissed."

If he had not told them to be silent, Spock was positive the students would have cheered and ran out of his room in a stampeding herd. But, still being the intimidating Vulcan, the students restrained themselves as they quietly exited the room in an orderly manner. He was pleased at how obedient these students were turning out to be.

Once the classroom was empty, Spock gathered his belongings and locked the door behind him. As he walked quickly and quietly down the hallway, Spock mentally calculated the time it would take to organize the day's events. When he passed by a restroom, he paused. Remembering what Kirk had told him, Spock debated with himself for four point six seconds before suppressing an eye roll and entering the restroom.

It was devoid of any life, which Spock was grateful for since he always felt foolish putting contacts in. If there was one thing he could not do with ease, it was sticking thin pieces of silicon over his eyeballs. Even when he finally managed to put them in, he could still feel the corrective lenses every time he blinked. However, he tolerated them enough and if it somehow aided in today's event, then it was a worthwhile effort. Carefully placing his glasses in the case and safely tucking the case into his bag, Spock gave himself a quick once-over in the mirror. Try as he might, he could not find anything about his features that would have caused Kirk's interest in them earlier.

Shaking his head, Spock exited the restroom somewhat conscientious of himself without his glasses, but still carried himself with confidence. By now, the first bell had rung and students began filing out of their classrooms. Most students shot Spock furtive glances while some stared dumbly at him and ran into the lockers. Once again, Spock was perplexed as to why the school body was so curios about his features.

Ignoring their looks and hushed whispers, Spock weaved through the flood of students and managed to squeeze into the cafeteria with minimal shoving. While he calculated how much wider the double doors leading to the cafeteria should be in order to allow a smoother influx of students, Spock almost ran into Uhura. She looked as if she was going to say something, but instead she gaped at him a fraction of a moment.

"Huh, you should go without glasses more often." she said with a small grin, but did not elaborate further. "So I hear you and Kirk are planning on promoting chess club during lunch."

Spock nodded his head once while dodging a rushing student.

"Indeed. Where is he currently?" he asked.

"I saw him run into the administrative offices a few minutes ago."

Uhura started when she heard a third voice. Watkins stood, shoulders hunched, a little off to her side.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't even checked with Principal Pike to see if it was okay…"

Smiling, Uhura patted Spock on the shoulder briefly.

"Well, I'll let you get to work. I admit, I'm curious to see how this turns out."

Her hair swished behind her as Uhura walked over and sat down at the faculty table. Spock turned his attention from her to Watkins who was staring at him strangely.

"Is something the matter, Mister Watkins?" Spock asked.

Watkins shook his head. He jerked his thumb to the back of the cafeteria where a line of tables were organized with chess boards spread across them.

"Marlena and Karl are all ready." he supplied helpfully. "Now, you have to play against all three of us at the same time."

A devious little smirk appeared on Watkin's face as he practically dragged Spock over to the chess boards. Though he did not enjoy the physical contact, Spock allowed Watkins to keep a hold on his arm seeing as he and the other two chess club members appeared so excited.

When they arrived at the tables, Marlena and Karl greeted Spock with a little more respect and a little less enthusiasm as Watkins. He finally let go of Spock's arm as he took a seat beside his classmates. All three faces looked up at him with eager anticipation.

"Choose your color." Spock ordered calmly.

The three students immediately picked their color and arranged the board accordingly. Spock nodded his head once and stood so he was opposite of them. With a single smooth gesture, he indicated that they should begin. He watched them make their first moves with a sharp eye, and found it fascinating that each one opened with a similar move. Filing that thought away for later contemplation, Spock moved his piece on each board. Watkins, Marlena, and Karl looked shocked when he made a different move for each board. They shared little looks at each other's boards before forcing themselves to focus only on their own game.

As they were playing, Spock kept an eye out for Kirk. For this whole thing to work, he needed Kirk to be here being his usual loud and very noticeable self. While there were a few curious students and teachers sitting closer to their chess table looking over their games, they were generally ignored.

"Check and mate. Checkmate in three moves. Check." Spock said as he moved his piece on each of the three boards. "You will need to focus more if you wish to challenge me."

Watkins stared dumbfounded at his board. His eyes darted between the different tiers of the chess board, trying to figure out when he lost. Marlena and Karl also studied their boards seriously.

"I want a re-match." Watkins suddenly declared.

"Very well." Spock acquiesced.

He set about organizing the board so all the pieces were at their starting positions. Spock watched him and the others stare intently at the boards as they tried to determine the best opening move. Waiting patiently, Spock discretely watched the other students. It was gradual, but more and more students began to look over and show more interest. Then again, Spock was under the impression they were staring at him more than the chess. His hand twitched to touch his glasses but his Vulcan control forced it to still.

"Mister Spock!" called out an energetic voice.

Chekov came bounding towards the table, the light curls of his hair bouncing with his enthusiastic pace. Lightly bowing his head in acknowledgment, Spock greeted him.

"Good afternoon, Mister Chekov."

"They say you are playing against anybody today and at the same time as others." he wasted no time getting to the point.

"Indeed. Do you wish to play?"

It was unnecessary for Spock to ask such a question, but if nothing else, he was always polite and proper. Chekov needed no other invitation. He sat next to Marlena and did nto say anything as he immediately made the first move.

Spock moved his own piece, then gracefully moved another piece on a different board. The games were finally becoming more difficult now that Chekov was added to the mix. Even though he still lacked the full skills Spock had, his genius mind gave him an edge the students still had yet to develop. Chekov also was a fan of speed chess, so Spock also had to keep close watch.

Now that his attention was becoming more divided, Watkins managed to make the game continue longer than before. The others realized it was well and renewed their efforts. Spock observed their newfound determination in silence. Of course, the silence was short lived as Kirk flew through the cafeteria doors with an energetic grin. He glanced over at Spock playing with the others and trotted over.

"Looking good, Spock." Kirk said as he approached.

"Indeed. I have managed to maneuver my pieces into an advantageous position." Spock replied distractedly.

Kirk grinned. "Not quite what I was going for, but good to know."

Too engrossed in his games, Spock did not respond. He was reaching the critical point in his match against Chekov. Kirk watched him set a trap and them move on to the next board.

To say the least, Kirk was impressed with Spock. The Vulcan could back up his claims and from what he could tell, he was still not pushing his limits yet. He was unable to stifle a chuckle at the sight of Chekov so thoroughly engrossed in the game. Then again, he could say that about all of them. Looking around, he noticed the other students in the cafeteria were staring intently, discreetly of course, whispering to each other. Kirk had a feeling many of the students wanted to try their hand as well, but were still too shy or lacking proper incentive. So, he decided to give them an incentive to play.

"Listen up, kiddos!" Kirk yelled above the noise in the cafeteria. "If anybody can beat Mister Spock at chess, they get three free homework passes to my class."

All heads whipped around to stare at their flamboyant social studies teacher with incredulous looks. A wave of whispers flowed through the room and Kirk knew he had them hooked. As proud as he was of his sudden idea, he remembered he should have checked with Spock first. Even though he had made no offer about Spock's classes, he was concerned that he might feel like he should do something as well.

He chanced a glance over his shoulder and was not surprised to see Spock was watching him with a slightly arched eyebrow. From all appearances, he was not upset nor was he showing much of anything. But then, that was not saying much when it came to the emotionally suppressed Vulcan.

"_If_ anybody manages to defeat me in a game of chess, whether now or during chess club, they will get ten points added to their final grade in my class."

The sudden silence in the cafeteria was so sudden, it was jarring. All eyes, plus Kirk's, were fixated on Spock, who was casually moving a bishop to the second level. While Kirk's call out was unexpected, it was logical. It slightly irked him that he failed to realize the students could be bribed, but he knew such feelings were illogical, and if anything, he admired the simple creativity behind it. Besides, a different, more irksome feeling was nagging at him. He was becoming far too fascinated with Kirk.

* * *

**A/N:** So I was a little later in posting the next chapter than I anticipated. Anyways, it's here now, so feel free to enjoy reading it...or not. Whichever makes you happy and all that jazz. Well, let me know what you think and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

Don't leave potatoes where you can see them. They have more eyes than you do,  
~Tofu


	7. Chess Lives On

News of the potential for extra points in both Kirk and Spock's classes caused a sudden influx of students crowding around the table. It would be an overstatement to say Spock was overwhelmed, but it was not so far-fetched to say he was surprised. A surprising amount of students showed they were capable of playing thoughtful games of chess. Chekov decided it was getting a bit too crowded and offered to continue his game at a later time so another student could take his place. Spock was grateful for this since he found it more difficult to keep track of the other games when his attention was occupied by a more skilled player. However, he still managed to stay a few steps ahead of each of his opponents and maintain his winning streak.

Kirk stood to the side, watching the matches with a grin. Every so often he would give quick lessons about chess, using one of the boards to illustrate his point. Despite being occupied by multiple games of chess, Spock still listened every so often. He was impressed by the easy way Kirk explained a complicated move or a particular strategy. A part of him wanted to forget the students he was playing and ignore them all in favor of a match against Kirk. But the louder, more dominate part embarrassingly squashed the thought and forced him to focus on the games at hand.

"Hey, Spock, you might want to finish up these rounds. Lunch is almost over," informed Kirk. Then, louder so that the students could hear, "Bell's going to ring soon, so no more matches. However, the prize for beating Mister Spock at chess still holds for the rest of the year and just so you know, every Friday is open chess matches for the chess club."

Focused on finding the most expedient means of ending the matches, Spock was still impressed at how Kirk managed to advertise for the chess club and try and draw students in by promises of better things. It was logical and far better that Kirk was the unspoken designated speaker for the chess club since Spock was certain he would not have the same effect as his co-worker. No, he was far better suited to making a spectacle of himself by beating seven students at chess simultaneously. It was not in his nature to be the center of attention like he was now; he was far too conscious of the bodies, minds, and eyes watching his every move. Spock had every desire for the lunch break to end and he could finally take out the contact lenses that were being a constant irritant. It was illogical for him to be thrilled when the bell rang, but he was nonetheless.

He politely complimented each of the students he bested in chess and watched them gather their belongings and trail out of the cafeteria. Kirk waved and every so often answered questions about chess club. Spock was somewhat relieved that the students went to Kirk for their answers and not him. He focused on his internal time and calculated how long he had to remove the contacts and make it to his class in time. So long as the lenses cooperated, he should have plenty of time.

"You know, I think it was a success," Kirk said as he moved to stand closer to him, "I bet this snags at least a few more students."

"Indeed. They did appear to show an interest in gaining an advantage in our classes," Spock replied as he neatly organized the chess boards and their pieces.

He chose to not notice the way Kirk was staring at him, nor the few others who were passing by. While he would never admit aloud, Spock was vaguely irritated at everybody for no reason other than that he could not find any logical reason, and even though he knew humans were illogical, there was usually some underlying logic behind it.

"Hey, thanks for humoring me today," Kirk said cheerfully.

Spock paused a moment to regard Kirk with a curious and slightly suspicious stare.

"In what way have I provided humor for you?" he asked.

"No, not like 'ha ha' humor," Kirk explained hastily, "I mean, like, agreeing to do something for me even though you probably thought it was stupid, or illogical…or both."

There really was something wrong with a language if it constantly required explanation, or at least, that was Spock's opinion as he measured Kirk's words. Though he did not think he cared for the word, it made sense, and if that was how humans express themselves, then he should just let them be.

"I see. In that case, I did not find it illogical due to the fact that you are more aware of how to communicate with the student body than I am," answered Spock as he resumed cleaning the table of boards, "Therefore, it was only logical I defer to your judgment in the matter."

This caused Kirk to grin broadly.

"Man, oh man, Bones would die hearing you say you deferred to my judgment," Kirk laughed more to himself than Spock, "Spock, you are definitely the most awesome dude around."

Spock had no idea what or why he was an 'awesome dude,' but he gathered it was a positive expression in the human vernacular. He was somewhat pleased at having received a compliment. However, he was not so pleased when Kirk clapped him on the shoulder. Spock was careful to keep his expression neutral, but internally, he was utterly miffed. Of course, he understood humans were more tactile by nature, but it was always far more surprising when they did it because he could never guess when it was coming. But in Kirk's case, Spock was distinctly uncomfortable with how comfortable he felt when Kirk initiated physical contact, however brief. It put him on guard and he was careful to maintain a safe distance.

"Oh, hey, I'll deal with these," Kirk suddenly said as he motioned towards the boards, "I have a free period after lunch."

It was a logical offer and if Spock wanted to rid himself of the contacts, then he needed to leave now.

"Very well then," he replied, "I shall see you at chess club."

Kirk waved at him as he left the cafeteria. Spock did not wave back as he saw no point in the action. That was another thing that he found illogical in humans. They had this bizarre need to gesture about everything.

"Mister Spock?" a timid voice called out.

Spock halted his steps and turned around to face the speaker. She was young, probably a freshman by Spock's estimates, and fascinatingly average looking. He really did meet the most curious humans here.

"Yes?" Spock calmly responded.

Though he was simply being polite in responding, it caused a faint blush. Spock found the reaction interesting, more because he did not know what would cause such a reaction in the first place. She bit her bottom lip, but then tried to straighten her posture and look him in the eye.

"Um…I was wondering where the chess club meets?"

Her voice drifted off, yet increased in pitch towards the end of her question. Spock fought the urge to cringe.

"It is located in the recreation lounge on the second floor," Spock answered calmly.

He tried to maintain eye contact, since such an action was polite, but he found it difficult to do from the way the student would swiftly shift her gaze the moment they made direct eye contact. Finally, she settled for staring at his shoes and lightly bowing.

"Thank you, Mister Spock."

Before Spock could tell her, "you're welcome," she was already rushing as fast as she could in the opposite direction. Arching a single eyebrow in question, Spock just turned on his heel and hurried to the nearest restroom.

A few students passed through the door when Spock opened the door and stepped inside. He nodded politely to a student washing his hands and then pulled out the tiny case for the lenses. Trying his best to ignore the student watching him curiously, Spock leaned forward to get a better look in the mirror. He could see the faint outline of the lenses and internally debated how he wanted to take them out. When he originally got the contacts, the optometrist explained the best method of taking contacts out. Spock found the idea of trying to pinch the lens off his eye horrifying and potentially dangerous. But then again, there were not too many other ways to remove them.

Thankfully, the last student had already vacated the restroom before Spock made his first attempt and second. Fighting back the urge to give in to the frustration building up inside him, he finally managed to take out the lenses after sliding them around a bit. The slight stinging sensation pricking at the corners of his eyes was a welcome relief as he carefully cleaned and stored the lenses. Blinking rapidly a few times cleared them up. Spock grabbed his glasses out of his bag and slid them on, comfortable with the familiar weight.

By the time he reached his classroom, majority of the students were already waiting patiently outside the locked door. He greeted the students with a small nod as he unlocked the door and allowed them to file in. A few of the students actually bothered to stare at his face a little bit before entering the classroom.

"Oh, you're wearing your glasses," a student blandly observed.

Spock thought it was his imagination, but he was almost tempted to say that the student appeared almost disappointed in his change of appearance. A few other students, especially the females of the class, nodded their heads as if in agreement. Cocking a single eyebrow, Spock bit back any curiosity he was experiencing and shut the door behind the last student right as the second bell began to ring.

The students were a little fidgety, as Spock noticed young humans were prone to do after lunch, but well-behaved. He had to confirm that yes; he did fully intend to reward any student who was able to beat him in a game of chess. After the initial excited murmur, the class quieted and allowed Spock to begin teaching.

And it was thus the remainder of the day went quietly and quickly. When the final bell was about to ring, Spock assigned their homework and finished explaining the requirements right before the bell rang. Students rushed out of his class, more than the usual stopping by his desk on the way out to ask him something about homework or the chess club. The newfound curiosity many of the students exhibited towards chess made Spock almost hopeful about new members.

With the last straggling students dealt with, Spock cleaned up his desk and double checked the entire room over before stepping out and locking the door. Tucking the key back into his pocket, Spock began the short hike to the chess club. And it was when he was about half way there that he finally turned around and addressed the small herd of students doing a poor job trailing behind him.

"Is there something I may assist you with?" Spock asked politely.

It took a few moments for the students to stop shooting each other looks and shifting their weight. At long last, a fairly confident looking young man stepped forward and fiddled with the hem of his uniform nervously.

"Ah, well, we were trying to find our way to the chess club and figured it was a safe bet to follow you?" he answered.

Spock found it curious that most students seemed to end their statements as questions when they spoke to him. As far as he could tell, they did not speak that way with the other teachers.

"That is a logical assumption," Spock commented smoothly, "However, I believe it would be less awkward for you to move freely instead of in a concentrated herd."

A few of the students smiled nervously and most simply looked like they had no idea what they were supposed to say. Spock watched them a fraction of a moment before turning back around and resuming his walk to chess club.

"After school activities begin in two point eight minutes," he stated over his shoulder to nobody in particular.

As he expected, he heard the scurried steps of the students' right behind him. But this time, they were spread out a little more and a bold two actually matched Spock's pace and walked side by side with him. It only took them a minute to reach the recreation room, and when they walked inside, Kirk excitedly greeted them.

"Wow, four students? That's great, Spock!"

"I do not see why I should be congratulated," Spock replied to Kirk's enthusiastic greeting, "They simply…followed me."

At this, the students following Spock actually grinned, and one even giggled a bit. Kirk grinned despite not knowing what could be so amusing, but it was nice when Spock could actually make the students relax a little in his presence.

"Well, whether they followed you or you dragged them here doesn't matter," Kirk said as he made a sweeping gesture towards the chess club's corner of the room, "We have nine kids now, Spock. We're almost there."

"Indeed," Spock agreed.

Their corner of the room was no longer painfully empty. Each of the chairs at the tables was filled and a couple more had to be dragged away from other locations to accommodate them. He quickly assessed the new students and immediately recognized them from his various chemistry classes. As he approached the table, he ran over the names associated with the faces.

"Hello?"

Spock and Kirk turned around to face the owner of the voice. Spock immediately recognized the student as Steven Tylers. His ruffled blond hair flopped every which way as he glanced around the room. Kirk wasted no time marching up to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and more or less dragging him into chess corner. He politely greeted Spock as he was dragged past and plopped into a seat. Tylers practically jumped from his seat when Kirk suddenly clapped his hands together excitedly.

"We have ten people. Chess is still alive!" he exclaimed.

The students, plus Spock, watched Kirk do some sort of excited hop and fist pump with something akin to vague amusement and mild horror. Kirk finally stood still and surveyed their group with a satisfied grin. The students stared at him a moment before turning their heads and staring at Spock with expectant faces. Spock's eyebrow twitched upward a fraction as if shrugging. The students then just shared weird looks with each other before turning their attention to the chess boards.

"Now that we have properly established ten individuals are now members of chess club, what is your lesson plan?" Spock asked.

"So glad you asked, Spock," Kirk responded, "I think the best thing for today is determine everybody's skill levels so we can make up the best way to enjoy this."

Spock nodded his head in agreement.

"A logical approach."

That was as close to a compliment as anybody was going to get, so Kirk just eagerly moved around so he could face each of the students.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Kirk said as he pointed towards Spock, "Mister Spock and I are going to have you play against us so we can determine your level. Sound good?"

There was a sound of agreement from all the students, and before they could ask, Spock held up his hand.

"Yes, if, at some point during our match you best me, you will receive the promised points," he confirmed.

The students eagerly arranged the boards in front of them, waiting impatiently for the teachers to begin. The only person who did not look all that happy was Tylers. He just sat quietly in his chair staring blankly at the table surface. Kirk walked over and leaned forward so he could make eye contact with him.

"Board's here, not there," Kirk said playfully.

Tylers started in his seat and looked up.

"Uh, I don't really…know how to play," Tylers admitted sheepishly, "Is that okay?"

"Is that all?" Kirk asked with a grin, "No problem, we'll teach you everything you need to know."

Spock nodded his head once in agreement, but remained silent as he began the opening moves on each of the boards. Kirk slid into the seat across from Tylers and cheerfully explained the basic rules of chess.

The time passed slowly and easily, Kirk and Spock drifting from board to board. Spock would make a move then pass on to the next board while Kirk would sometimes slide in after and continue the play. Spock initially thought this method of switching off on a whim was a poor, and ultimately doomed to fail approach, but gradually began to change his opinion. He was once again reluctantly impressed with Kirk's ability. Even though he made no mention of what he intended to do, nor indicate what kind of trap he set up, Kirk was prepared to follow through with whatever Spock had planned. But, even more surprising to Spock was the fact he was able to determine all of Kirk's plans with just as much ease. Granted, there was flair and almost superfluous manner to Kirk's plays, but Spock could still detect some level of order and logic to them. He found it all quite disconcerting.

"Okay, I think today went pretty well. How about you, Mister Spock?" Kirk asked as he moved a bishop to checkmate.

"Indeed it did," agreed Spock, "By next week, Mister Kirk and I shall have an organized plan for this extracurricular activity."

He shared a quick glance with Kirk, who nodded his head, and helped the students organize the boards. The students murmured quietly with each other, attempting to break the awkward silences shared between two strangers while not being overheard by the teachers. Spock thought such a sentiment was illogical, but he remained silent and decided it would be best if he did not tell the students they could talk as quietly as they like, he was still going to hear them, whether he wanted to or not. His sensitive hearing picked up the stilted conversations as students of varying backgrounds, interests, and popularity standing. Spock found it illogical to feel glad he was not the only one who suffered through awkward social moments. If humans had the same problem between themselves, then he did not need to feel so bad about failing to make social connections.

"Alright, see you guys Monday," Kirk said as he waved at the leaving students.

Spock nodded his head in acknowledgment to the few students who briefly mumbled farewells. He picked up two boards, one in each hand, and carefully balanced the pieces as he stored them in the designated storage room Kirk had unlocked. There was not as much room for the boards as Spock knew they should have, but the other club supplies appeared to have more importance. With some careful and creative rearrangement, Kirk and Spock were finally able to fit all the boards safely on the shelves. As Kirk locked the door, he looked over his shoulder at Spock.

"Hey, you doing anything after this?" he asked casually.

There was some part of Spock, a somewhat tired and emotionally confused part, that wanted to tell Kirk that he was indeed busy with some pressing matter, but the better part of his Vulcan mind knew it would be a horrifically blatant lie and he found himself responding without thinking.

"No, I do no have prior engagements," Spock replied mechanically.

Kirk clapped his hands together excitedly.

"Great," he exclaimed, "How would you like to grab some dinner with me and we can start talking about what we want to do with chess club?"

"Very well," acquiesced Spock.

He had a nagging suspicion that there was something other than a simple meeting with Kirk. However, there was no tangible evidence of any ulterior motives, leaving Spock feeling like an illogically paranoid human. He really wanted to meditate and purge himself of whatever he was experiencing.

"Okay, meet me out front when you're ready," Kirk ordered as he gave Spock a friendly slap on the shoulder.

It took a moment of mental exercises before Spock was ready to move away from his stiff position. Turning on his heel, he made a mental list of what he needed to do after meeting with Kirk. Unfortunately, it was painfully short and did not provide a good enough distraction. All he could really think about doing was meditating and figuring out how to get Kirk to stop initiating physical contact. Realizing the futility of this thought process; Spock bit back a sigh and resigned himself to his fate. The only way he could come up with was nothing short of outright telling Kirk he did not want to be touched. And for some reason, he did not think he would be able to tell him that.

"Got everything?" Kirk's voice asked.

Spock jerked his head up only to realize he was standing outside the school building, bag in hand, and he had no recollection of what he did before exiting the building. What he did manage to realize, however, was the fact Kirk was currently straddling a motorcycle and staring at him expectantly. Every effort went into keeping his face neutral, even though Spock had the strongest urge to blanch at the sight.

"Hope you don't mind, but it's how I get around and I know you don't drive, sooo," Kirk drifted off towards the end and gave a lopsided grin as he gestured to his motorcycle.

Yes, Spock minded very much that Kirk expected him to ride on that thing and put his life in the hands of a young man that frankly, concerned him on physical, mental, and moral grounds. There was nothing on heaven or earth that would convince him it would be logical to slide on behind Kirk. So it was completely beyond Spock why he was allowing Kirk to secure his bag and sliding on behind him.

"Where are we going?" Spock asked.

Kirk did not answer him. He merely grinned, revved the engine, and sped out of the parking lot.

* * *

**A/N:** Apologies for the delay in updates. Finals are done now, so with any luck, it sholdn't go so slowly. Anyways, happy holidays and hope you enjoyed.


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